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How to Do Masking for Soft Edge Painting Camouflage on a Scale Model Aircraft

Masking a model aircraft to produce a camouflage soft edge as opposed to a hard edge utilizes technique more than material. You will be using a masking shield, as opposed to masking tape, to prevent paint from entering areas where you don't want it to be. Part of the process of painting in this way, however, is to apply a base coat to the plane before you begin. In the case of most military aircraft, that means brown or green.

Things You'll Need

Cardboard
Craft knife
Spray paint

Instructions

- 1
  Lay the cardboard on a solid surface on which you can use the craft knife blade.
- 2
  Cut holes into the cardboard with the knife, using the camouflage pattern you see on your model's box top as a guide to achieve a similarly scaled and shaped pattern. Make certain you have between three and four of these patterns in different shapes before beginning to paint the model.
- 3
  Spray the model with the base coat color, then allow it to dry thoroughly. You shouldn't have to use the masking cardboard to do this.
- 4
  Lay one of the cardboard pieces on a wing of your airplane, making certain that the inner edges of the shape you cut don't actually touch the airplane wing itself. There should be a gap of approximately 1/32-inch here.
- 5
  Mist three to four coats of the second color for your camouflage pattern over the cardboard masking while gently holding the cardboard so the aerosol from the spray paint won't move the cardboard around.
- 6
  Remove the cardboard. You should see a soft line around the edge of the paint rather than a hard line. Continue using the cardboard cut-outs on the rest of the plane, being certain to avoid painting over paint that has not yet dried.

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